Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Arsenic trisulfide, As2S3, a yellow mineral used as a pigment.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Arsenic trisulphid, As2S3.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Chem.) Arsenic sesquisulphide, produced artificially as an amorphous lemon-yellow powder, and occurring naturally as a yellow crystalline mineral; -- formerly called auripigment. It is used in king's yellow, in white Indian fire, and in certain technical processes, as indigo printing.
  • noun realgar; the red sulphide of arsenic.
  • noun king's yellow.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun arsenic trisulphide, occurring naturally in crystals or massive deposits, formerly used as a dye or pigment

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a yellow mineral occurring in conjunction with realgar; an ore of arsenic

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin auripigmentum : aurum, gold + pigmentum, pigment; see pigment.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French, from Latin auripigmentum ("orpiment"), from aurum ("gold") + pigmentum ("pigment").

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Examples

  • Even so, the words do not agitate the meth-addled hamsters that operate my mental machinery to the extent that 'orpiment' does.

    Sadly, No! 2008

  • Several other, less-common minerals contain arsenic, including orpiment, realgar, and enargite, which are arsenic sulfides.

    Arsenic 2009

  • The name arsenic comes from the Greek word arsenikon, which means orpiment.

    Arsenic 2009

  • It is believed that he heated soap and orpiment together and isolated elemental arsenic.

    Arsenic 2009

  • Zirník or orpiment, 3 parts: it is applied in the Hammam to a perspiring skin, and it must be washed off immediately the hair is loosened or it burns and discolours.

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • Purity, however, was only a goal in the case of pigments made of potentially dangerous materials: If sulfur could not be removed from orpiment, or copper from verdigris, purification might at least render them less harmful.

    The Creation of Color in Eighteenth-Century Europe 2006

  • This was possible by altering the coloring material through the addition of orpiment, which slowed reaction time.

    The Creation of Color in Eighteenth-Century Europe 2006

  • "Pencil blue" was made by heating finely ground indigo with orpiment and potash.

    The Creation of Color in Eighteenth-Century Europe 2006

  • King's yellow is a pure orpiment, or arsenic coloured with sulphur ...

    The Creation of Color in Eighteenth-Century Europe 2006

  • As for the mineral colors, sulfur is an essential ingredient of such colors as orpiment and cinnabar, and it can never be removed.

    The Creation of Color in Eighteenth-Century Europe 2006

  • Some pigments must be handled with care, including the yellow-hued orpiment and the red-orange realgar, which are derived from arsenic sulfide minerals.

    Text of J.K. Rowling’s speech Colleen Walsh Harvard Staff Writer DateSeptember 17, 2015January 5, 2018 2018

Comments

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  • orpiment golden pigment: or-pi(g)ment: orp also has a conatation of the arsenic it contains

    January 14, 2007

  • "Jack was speaking to the gunner at the time, explaining that the private powder in the kegs marked X was mixed with red orpiment, and XX with antimony or copper, while still others had lycoperdium or camphor or strontium..."

    --Patrick O'Brian, The Ionian Mission, 50

    February 11, 2008

  • Another usage:

    "The brilliant white of camphor, the green of brass filings, a rosy pink, a most uncommon violet derived from orpiment, and so it went at perfectly regular intervals... to the final prodigious blast from the aftermost carronade, crammed with a deafening, blinding mixture of pedok, datang and colophony."

    --Patrick O'Brian, The Thirteen Gun Salute, 211

    March 4, 2008